I met Chance Howard at Robert Foxworth's office that morning....He had to run back into his office to grab his briefcase..While I waited, Barbara Courtland was headed down the hallway...She was being followed by Brian, the well dressed man from the night before who had stomped out of the club angry...
"Brian please...You follow me everywhere I go...It's almost as if you are stalking me.." she said testily...
"Baby, I told you that I'm sorry about last night....It's just that that Cecil fellow was ogling you up and down and I just got sooo mad...What are you doin being friends with a guy like that?" he asked.
"I don't have to justify my friendships to you...Now would you please go to work or whatever it is you do when you're not following me around...I have business to tend to here..." she said.
"With who? Robert Foxworth, the attorney...What kind of business?" he asked.
"None of YOUR business..okay! If you must know...My father's will..My father's practice and even some of the burial arrangements...Mr. Foxworth is handling them." she said.
Just then she saw me and Chance Howard walking towards the elevator..
"Oh Hi Kevin...Hi Chance.." she said.
"Who are those guys?" asked Brian...
"Chance is the other attorney who works for Robert Foxworth and Kevin is a private investigator." she said.
"Private Investigator??? What does he need a private investigator for?" asked Brian.
"Look...I've had all I can take of your questions and of you following me around....Go to work, Go home, go anywhere...but I have business to take care of that doesn't concern you." she said.
"Awww come on...Booo Boooo...." he said.
"Brian please..Just go..." she said.
"Well does Robert Foxworth's WIFE know about your BUSINESS? " he asked...
"Ouuuuuu...just go!!!!" she screamed!
Chance and I cracked up as we got on the elevator....
"Who is that guy? I saw him last night in Josies..." I said.
"Man...he's a real head case Kevin.....She told Robert and me that he was at the airport when she got there." he laughed...
"Oh really? " I said.
"Her father was a prominent Black Doctor...So when he got murdered it made national news....He and her had a brief relationship and then she moved away....Once her dad was dead...He knew she was comin back here and I guess he's trying to make his play....I can't say that I blame him...She is fine..but he's too extreme...He's goin about it the wrong way." said Chance Howard...
"You'd be a lot smoother right Chance?" I said with a sly grin..
"Oh damn straight." he laughed.
II-
We drove up to the country club that Dr. Wesley Cornbluth belonged to... He had been a good friend to both the murdered Dr. Courtland and the recently deceased Dr. Watson....He often refferred patients and shared notes with both of them.. Perhaps he could shed some light on this missing patient of his.
We were told that Dr. Cornbluth was in the sauna...He had just finished a rigorous game of tennis and had retired to the sauna....
"OHHH MY GOD.......OHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GOD, Come QUICK... DR. CORNBLUTH IS DEAD!!! OHHHHHHHHHHHHH MY GODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD!!!" screamed a man....
Chance Howard and I rushed to where the man ,with only a bathrobe around him was pointing....It was the sauna!!!! We opened the door and the steam rushed out...Another attendent went in..."Oh good lord..This is way too hot..." He said....
And there , sitting in the corner...Slumped over and very dead...was Dr. Wesley Cornbluth......From the looks of the body...it didn't look like there had been any foul play...but the M.E. was going to have to tell me that..
"Chance...call the police...then call your boss...tell him to meet us at the M.E.'s office in an hour...Tell him to keep this quiet, not to tell Ms. Courtland at all." I said.
"I'm on it Kev." He said.
Then, doing my best impression of Lockpick Johnson..I broke into Dr. Courtland's office....Apparently somebody had beaten me there too.. A file was missing...Just like in the other cases..but I did find something that the killer must have overlooked....An appointment book....with a cryptic note- "Call Courtland about B.H." and it was dated the day before Dr. Courtland was found strangled to death! There was also another note in the book...."Watson called, said it was urgent!" Obviously this was written by an assistant...I took both messages...I had to find that assistant before the killer did, if he or she already hadn't....Whoever this killer was...They were good at covering their tracks....
III-
Robert Foxworth met Chance Howard and I at the M.E.'s office...Also present was Homicide Lt. Sissy Van Buren....
"Kev, I don't believe this....First my client's father is murdered...We go to talk to his friend and he's dead and now the last person who can possibly help us and he's dead too....This can't be a co-incidence." he said.
"It's not Robert...both Dr. Watson and Dr. Cornbluth were murdered." said Sissy Van Buren.
"What?...You know this already?" I said.
"Well...it took us a minute to find it in Watson....but in Cornbluth, since we knew what we were looking for...we looked for it and the same toxin showed up...It's a slow acting poison....Both men probably ate or drank something that had this poison in it and they died hours later..." she said.
"Wow...." I said.
"We even found the chemist....He gave us a description of the buyer...."Tall, well dressed African-American male by the name of Bob Haskins...Even gave us an address." said Sissy Van Buren...
Chance Howard and I looked at each other-
"B.H." we both said.
"Well problem is...There is no Bob Haskins and the address and phone number he gave was phony!" said Sissy Van Buren.
"So we are back to square one." said Robert Foxworth...
"Well we did lift some prints from Courtland, Watson and Cornbluth's offices...We eliminated everyone else's prints and came up with this set...Only thing..They don't match anyone in our files...We are waiting for the FBI to see if they have the prints in their files..or DNA ,like what we found on the garotte." she said.
I drove Chance home and later on that evening, Robert Foxworth and I met for drinks at Josie's Bar and Grille. Reed Nelson and the band was doing a surprise set that night...and 88 was sitting in...It was nice to see him back in the band...Reed had been using another keyboard player on a few dates.
"You know Kev.....When I was doin dirt I almost never got caught." he said matter of factly.
"What are you talking about.?" I asked.
"My client. The old me would have had her up in my office, panties down, bra off and on my couch goin to town....But I'm not that guy anymore......I was totally professional with this woman...We were in my office going over depositions when my wife shows up!" he said.
"Bonita??" I asked. "She never struck me as the jealous type." I said.
"She's not...She told me that she got an anonymous call telling her that I was involved in some funny business with a sexy young client of mine." he snapped.
"Oh wow!" I said. I wanted to laugh ,but thought better of it...Because of Robert's past reputation..I had secretly wondered the same thing. If he was saying that he wasn't, then that was good enough for me..Robert Foxworth had never lied to me about his sexual conquests in the past...If he said he wasn't doing anything..Then he wasn't.
"Of course when she got there...She found nothing...Barbara and I and three of my administrative assistants were all in the office going over paperwork.....It was that little shit, Brian Hollander who did this...That's the guy who's been bird doggin Barbara ever since she got in town.. He's jealous of every male who speaks to her." he said.
"I know him...the goofy jealous guy, Chance and I saw the two of them arguing this morning....." I laughed.
"She don't want him Kev...He's the reason she left town." said Robert Foxworth.
I don't know if it was the alcohol or what Robert Foxworth had just said...but something in my mind started playing things back-
"Her father was a prominent Black Doctor...So when he got murdered it made national news....He and her had a brief relationship and then she moved away....Once her dad was dead...He knew she was comin back here and I guess he's trying to make his play....I can't say that I blame him...She is fine..but he's too extreme...He's goin about it the wrong way." said Chance Howard...
and the night before at Josie's.....
.He's crazy...He's had a thing for me for years....I tried to give him some play but he was just too possesive..... too clingy...My dad was murdered you know." she said.
"Yeah ,I read about it in the papers." said Cecil.
"I thought I'd slip into town, take care of my business and bounce...Don't you know that fool was at the airport , waitin on me?" laughed Barbara..
"Robert, What did you say Brian's last name was?" I asked.
"Hollander." he said.
Hmmmm...Brian Hollander... B.H. There was no "Bob Haskins" , but there was a Brian Hollander! Could he be the mysterious Patient X, Could he be "B.H.?" I was certainly going to look into it ..as well as find Dr. Cornbluth's assistant ...It wasn't much...but it was all I had. The Funeral was tomorrow and I had a feeling that my window of opportunity to identify and catch this killer was closing fast!
No comments:
Post a Comment